Marie Lukasik Wallace ~ # I LIVE Poetry – I'm passionate about life and writing and all things creative and poetic!

Tag Archives: beauty

One of the most moving portions of my trip was engaging with the people of India. When they look into your eyes, they see your soul. They don’t glance away. They look deeper. There is a genuine desire to “know” you and honor the divine in you, thus where the word Namaste comes from.

As part of SHEROES United, I got the privilege to go into the Himalayas and bring Humanitarian relief. But honestly, visiting them, I got humanitarian relief. Relief that there are still such genuine, kind, loving people in the world. These are people who are gracious and grateful for the smallest of blessings.

After we spent time with the children (a beautiful earlier post), we received the beautiful blessing of meeting the moms of the kids, plus other women who had heard of our arrival.

Our wonderful Drum Goddess, Katie Jo, pulled out her drums and then we were off to an adventure of bringing the beauty of sound to the village women. One woman would strike the drum with a small stroke, and Katie Jo would encourage them to strike it hard. The sound then filled the room and soon the dancing broke out, and we saw the women’s hearts soar with the beats. What a wonderful sight to see these women laughing and dancing with so much joy. We gave the drum to the grandmother who really encouraged all to dance. But the most beautiful sight of all was when I looked to the back of the room to the faces of the sons and grandsons of the woman who had witnessed their moms and grandmothers dancing in spirit. What a sight to see!

I will forever be changed getting the honor and privilege of being a part of watching spirits soar.

(p.s. The last picture is one of our drivers…look at the GRIN! The power of the drums is evident on their faces.)

“Chautauqua”-: Today, it is “experiencing a renaissance. People are discovering that lifelong learning is one of the keys to living a happy, fulfilling life.” I am so grateful this word, and this experience entered my life!

So this summer, I had been struggling a little with identity as I quit my long term career path as a teacher.

I had wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. I had the courage to go back to school as a young mom in my late twenties and began teaching as my second career. Ah…I loved it! But the demands as a teacher were more than I could do and still pursue my other dreams of writer and writing coaching, so I didn’t renew my contract.

Enter, new phase in my life. I’ve ALWAYS worked, and now I got to trust what came next. Granted, I was lost. I felt I had lost my tribe and that I didn’t belong anywhere and that I was alone on my journey. Enter, my friend, who is a counselor. He was EXCITED about my new journey and said I was RIPE for discovery and he couldn’t believe all that was out there for me. You should have seen his face, grinning ear to ear, as if he knew a secret that I didn’t know. Then, add in to the conversation, I’m about to take a trip across America with my husband for two and half weeks, and I thought he would vault out of the chair, and the grin that I didn’t think could get bigger, took up his whole face.

That’s when he let me in on the secret of “Chautauqua. The way he introduced it to me was that I go into my travels without any expectations. Be open. Be honest. Enjoy. Also, not to hold on to any specific outcomes. I took all this to mean ABSORB. My great mantra of #ILivePoetry was my first thought….treat each day as a poetic experience. What do I see? really see? What if I stop and notice more? What if I take pictures from the under sides of things? What do I hear? Songs of the cicada? Ocean waves? What do I taste? Are there new tastes? New food? Old favorites in a new way? Experience it all.

Being open to an experience and drinking….no GULPING it in is way different than just doing it. I LIVED it. I truly “lived poetry.” My take on poetryis that it’s the best words, in the best order, in the tiniest of packages but the most explosive of moments. I truly got to live my live. Then suddenly, the worries diminish, life’s blessings show up in the most unusual ways. I noticed things in ways and places I hadn’t before.

In the next couple of weeks, I will randomly post my experiences. I thought I might go by towns and stops along the way…not sure how it will look, just sharing. It will be poetry unfolding. And as I showcase my experiences, you’ll see my definition of a Chautauqua. Namaste my friends.

I’ve been traveling across America, and I could hardly wait to get home and post for Texture Tuesdays with Narami. I look forward to it every week, even if I don’t post. There are so many great things we see if we just pay attention and look closer, and there are a plethora of finds out there from State to State. Posting along the way proved to be difficult with sparse to little internet. KOA camps try to have internet, but alas, their setup doesn’t always work but for maybe email.

The cool part is I should have enough pictures (over 5,000) to find something to meet the challenges for many Tuesdays to come!

Enjoy some of these pictures of landscape from Wyoming…truly one of the prettiest parts of the country from sunsets to wide open country, even the clouds are curiously shaped. Have you ever seen anything so fluffy? It looks like it came from a whipped cream can. Have fun!